RAINBOW BRIDGE NATIONAL MONUMENT

national monument containing a rainbow-shaped bridge of pink sandstone spanning a canyon 290 feet (88 m) above a creek that winds toward the Colorado River, in southern Utah, U.S., on the Navajo Indian Reservation near the Utah-Arizona boundary. The site, established in 1910, occupies 160 acres (65 hectares). The bridge is 278 feet (85 m) long and is probably the largest natural bridge in the world. Embedded among canyons carved by streams winding from the northern slopes of Navajo Mountain 5 miles (8 km) southeast, the monument is situated on a remote desert plateau and can be reached only on foot, by horseback, or by boat on Lake Powell. Plants, fed by water seeping from the canyon walls, grow in profusion nearby and include the wild orchid and maidenhair fern. Fire-blackened stones indicate that Indians once worshiped there.